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The PhET simulation  illustrates how the structure of the atom was investigated by bombarding atoms with particles. By shooting photons and a-particles at an atom, the predictions of different atomic models, ranging from classical to quantum, may be compared with the results of experiment. 

Similarly, simulates the Rutherford experiment. This tested the model of the atom in which positive charge is considered to be distributed uniformly throughout the atom, a model known variously as the Thomson model, the Plum Pudding model or the Currant (Raisin)-Bun model. The experiment shows that the observed scattering of alpha particles by atoms can only be consistent with a small core of positive charge.

A series of KCVS applets on follows the development of a model of atomic structure by

• visualising what Rutherford expected to see if the Plum Pudding model had been correct

• presenting a recreation of the Geiger-Marsden experiment which established the existence of the atomic nucleus

• describing how Rutherford established a new, nuclear model of the atom. This applet allows you to test the Rutherford model, comparing it with the Thomson model

• investigating the behaviour of a-particles as they interact with various nuclei

• studying scattering from various shapes and governed by different force laws, thus obtaining information about underlying structure